In this the age of energy conservation, man is desirous of taking whatever steps can be had on a reasonable cost basis to maximize energy utilization. In the field of domestic hot water systems, solar energy based systems are not new. They, like the standard fossil fuel fired or electric hot water systems, suffer from efficiency losses of up to 30 percent. Witness the high growth in the use of insulation or blankets around gas or electric hot Water heaters.
Even today, solar based systems are still used as a supplement to a conventional DHWS, (domestic hot water system) rather than as the sole source of heat. This is true for several reasons the most important of which is the fact that many days are cloudy or rainy in many parts of the country thereby rendering a solely solar system impractical.
Thus, even on sunny days, the solar system acts as a first stage heater from which the water goes to intermediate storage and the electric or gas DHWS heats the stored water to tap level temperature.
It is one object of this invention to provide a more efficient solar based domestic hot water system.
It is another object to provide a solar based DHWS wherein the heat gain from solar energy is used to preheat the water entering from the storage tank to the electric or gas hot water heater (EOGHWH).
It is a further object to provide a solar based DHWS that employs a thermal siphon.
It is a still further object to provide a solar based domestic hot water system wherein heat gained by water exiting the solar collector is used to prewarm water going from the solar heated water's storage tank to the EOGHWH to drive the siphon.
It is a yet further object to provide a solar based DHWS wherein the EOGHWH has two inlet sources.
An additional object is to provide a solar based DHWS wherein the EOGHWH has two outlets, one at the top and one at the bottom.
These and other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.
The invention accordingly comprises the apparatus possessing the features, properties and the relation of components which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.